Days Until Heartbreak/Dark
i know my expectations i've missed my mark i hate being hidden in the dark part twenty nine of Days Until Heartbreak "Sari, Aura," the lead tom dips his head to us. I feel tense and unsure. Aura is completely stiff and I've never seen her so stressed out before. We've finally arranged a meeting with the gathered toms and it seems to already be a disaster. Aura looks like she wants to spit out a few insults so I step in front. "Greetings..." I realize I don't even know his name. "Hawk," he interjects, "you can call me Hawk." "Okay, Hawk, we're here for a possibly consideration of becoming allies with the tom because we facing a brutal war versus the Clans." I mew briskly, "Despite our differences, it has come to my attention that the Clans won't stop with just obliterating us. They'll attack you too. So we as a group decided to see if we should ally ourselves with you." Hawk looks amused. "I never knew you were capable of doing that." I bare my teeth at him. "Don't make me leave you to the mercy of the Clan." He flicks his tail. "Fair enough, we are in danger also, but how will I know that we won't be attacked on sight by your cats?" Aura manages to speak up. "We're not that barbaric." Hawk only raises an eyebrow at that I cough in embarrassment. Before I can say anything however, I spot a flash of white in the background. My eyes widen and I mutter. "Excuse me," and dart into the tom ranks. Aura half-heartedly shouts after me while Hawk seems to remain silent. I ignore the stares of the toms as I weave my way through the cats. The tom I'm chasing seems to be getting farther and farther away from me until I burst out into the open. "Ice!" He turns frantically and stares in shock as I race towards him. He looks worse than the last time I saw him. There are wounds crisscrossing his beautiful, sleek pelt. His eyes have some sort of edge to them. "What happened?" I gasp as I stare at him. "Nothing," he mutters, "some Clan cat." It isn't very convincing but Ice cuts off my next question. "What are you doing here?" he frowns, "You're deep in tom territory you know. All of your friends are on your side." "I know," I duck my head, "I was looking for you." Something flashes in his eyes and he takes a step back and says roughly, "You know you aren't supposed to do that. We're over until I can finish my business. I'll find you, okay? I'll try to make it fast." He looks like he wants to say more but he turns and flees. "Ice!" I shout as I race after him, "Wait!" But he manages to disappear before I can catch up to him. I stare, crestfallen at the place he had been before. What was his rush? I sigh in defeat and turn my paws towards the border again. Aura and Hawk are still debating on strategies and strict rules about the alliance. I huff and sit next to Aura, curling my tail over my paws and ignoring everyone as I zoned on, my thoughts drifting towards a white tom who had stolen my heart. ~ "Sari, focus." Aura sighs in exasperation, "For the past few days you've been doing perfect. The cats are starting to believe in you because they think you've erased your sins with that tom of yours! Now you have that moony look on your face again. Did you meet up with him or what?" "Kind of," I rest my head on my paws. Aura looks up sharply. "Kind of?" I shrug, "It's nothing," I mutter as I stare blankly at the wall of our den again. I don't hear what Aura says afterwards, I've already disappeared. "Sari!" Aura shakes me back into the present, "We need to focus. I know you and your tom have your problems but we're about to fight a war with the Clans." She huffs, "I can't have you being distracted. Have you led your training session yet? Have you come up with any new plans? Have you patrolled the borders like you promised? No." "Stop yelling," I mumble, "I get it." I push myself out of the nest and I round up the four cats I'm supposed to be training today. All of them look equally grumpy and I push away a bubble of frustration, knowing that I have to earn my cats' trust again. "So for today..." ~ Ice wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. Sure, he was probably protecting Sari by pushing her away and telling her that things can't work out right now, but he was regretful. He was guilty for being weak and for being the one who drew Sari in. He had noticed her that one day, yelling at the tom, fighting to protect one of the younger she-cats of her group. Like all the other toms, Ice knew what her name was, her reputation. He purposely put himself in her way and startled her, wanting to see her reaction. Of course that nearly ended up with him having a clawed muzzle and perhaps a few wounds here and there, but he had felt accomplished. Accomplished and in love. Which of course provoked a specific she-cat that he was supposed to fall in love with. Ice sighed again and pushed himself to his paws. It was time for another one of those pointless meetings about how he was the most perfect tom in the world and he was hers and hers alone. ~ "I said claw his flank not bow down to him! What are you, stupid? Did you trip over air? Roll to the left! No, not your right, come on, can't you hear me? Okay now, duck! I SAID DUCK, NOT FALL ON YOUR FACE." Of all things I could have done today, Aura assigned me to have a training session with the toms this time. Some of the she-cats are here too to practice combinations with the toms, but it's mostly just me yelling at these idiots who cannot understand the meaning of "duck". "DON'T STOP FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE." I shout at one of the toms who stops to lick at the blood on his paw. It's pretty disappointing to see these toms struggle to do some proper sparring. No one I always felt so surperior to them. Because they were inferior. As I continue to bellow orders, I turn to check on the she-cats. They're doing perfectly fine, practicing a few formations that I had taught them earlier. I sigh as I stop another tom falling flat on his face, and another, tripping over his own tail. "Okay, okay, stop!" I sigh, "This isn't working. Do I really need to show you how to spar?" They all stare at me. I glare back at them. "Okay see, you attack them and practice your form and your moves," I inform them as I lunge for the nearest tom. He falls in shock and I'm momentarily frustrated by his lack of ability. "You make sure you can analyze your opponent before actually making a move." "Pearl, Firefly, show them." The two she-cats circle each other immediately. The toms are staring at them with wide eyes, which actually creeps me out. Firefly and Pearl are watching each other closely, and neither of them attack. Firefly suddenly lunges and Pearl dodges easily. The two are like fish in the water, moving fluidly and gracefully. When Firefly finally stands over Pearl, I thump my tail in approval. "That," I mutter, "is a sparring match." The toms do a lot better than I expect, however. I don't bother learning their names, but soon, we're able to practice a few good formations and actually execute an attack on Aura's patrol when they come by. It gave them quite the scare. Aura doesn't look amused. "Really, Sari?" she grunts, "We're trying to patrol here, you know?" I stifle a laugh as I try to look serious for the toms. "I thought it would be good practice." She looks infuriated but before she can reply, I hear a gruff voice from the border. "All my favorite cats in the same place." I whip around to see Shineblossom. She has a few scratches here and there and there's actually a long scratch that marrs her pretty face. I blink in shock. Did I land a blow the last time I had attacked her? Or had someone else done that? "Nothing, just a Clan cat." Ice's words come back to me. Had Ice done that? She's with her own patrol. She glares at me with a special sort of hatred. "I saw your practiced attack," she growls, "You better be preparing because soon, the Clan will make their move and we will crush you." I bare my teeth at her, unfazed. "We're ready for you."